Draft Business Plan for Red Cliffs Recreation Area Available for Public Comment

St. George, Utah—The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah St. George Field Office is seeking public comment on the Draft Business Plan for the Red Cliffs Recreation Area. The popular Red Cliffs Recreation Area, which is located inside the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Washington County, Utah, saw 37,000 visitors in 2012.

The draft plan proposes to increase fees for public use of the recreation area to help cover operational costs, which have risen substantially since the last time fees were raised in 1997. The fee for day use would increase from $2 per carload to $5 per carload; the overnight camping fee would increase from $8 per night to $15 per night. Even with the proposed increases, use fees for the Red Cliffs Recreation Area would remain below the fees charged by other federal and state recreation facilities with similar amenities in the region. The draft business plan also includes information on how collected fees were used in the past and how future revenues would be used to operate, maintain, and upgrade recreation area facilities. Before the draft plan can be finalized and implemented, the BLM-Utah Resource Advisory Council must review and approve proposed changes.

Additional information about the proposed changes can be reviewed in the draft plan, which is now available for public comment. An electronic copy of the plan can be found on the St. George Field Office website at: http://blm.gov/2ykd. Copies can also be reviewed at the BLM-Utah St. George Field Office, 345 E. Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah.

The public is invited to provide written comments on the Red Cliffs Recreation Area Draft Business Plan during the 30-day comment period which is open until Feb. 8, 2013. Please reference the Red Cliffs Recreation Area when submitting comments.

Written comments should be mailed to:

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

St. George Field Office

Red Cliffs National Conservation Area

Attn: Kyle Voyles, NCA Outdoor Recreation Planner

345 East Riverside Dr.

St. George, UT 84790

Written comments may also be submitted via email. Please include “Red Cliffs Recreation Area” in the subject line and send comments to: kvoyles@blm.gov.

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. BLM will not consider anonymous comments. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety.

For further information concerning the document, please contact Kyle Voyles, NCA Outdoor Recreation Planner, at (435) 688-3274. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.